In case you have moved or something here is a link to reregister... it only takes a few minutes!
Take care,
Paige
It stirred the memories of my christian fundamentalist republican upbringing into a whirl of mixed emotions and I responded...
.. Oh no! Did I really just get a link to "secure john mccain"? Amazing. truly. I try not to vote, i think it's generally a waste of time, my favorite metaphor for the act being "it's like alphabetizing your garbage," but if I did I would surely not be for a man who has been in congress for decades representing a party that has led to the sorry state of affairs we are in now. Please consider for a moment that we were utterly brainwashed at Christian High to be obedient, god-Fearing (emphasis on Fearing), misinformed imbeciles. It wasn't intentional. Our teachers, parents, pastors most likely had the best of intentions, but they were just working with what they had, which wasn't much. However we have no excuse. We have a wealth of information right here on in front us on this glowing screen and a million books on a million subjects found on Amazon. I hate to think that any one of us still remains insulated to truth or shuns the pursuit of it. this isn't a political rant. if you want to vote for john mccain because you think his economics are more sound, or because you think his foreign policies will lead to peace and love, or because he has a stellar energy plan, god bless you. but if you're voting for him because he seems more christian or has a VP who shuns abortion, please wake up. for the sake of your children, wake up. for the sake of all people in this world, wake up. for the sake of nature, wake up. for our future, wake up. Send me a line if you want a few book suggestions. Hope you are all well. -Nic Murphy
and Paige responded....
....and my response to that followed by the rest so far....
Sorry about that Paige,
I briefly scrolled through the addresses, saw a couple I recognized and assumed it was the CHS mailing group. I did not mean to email your friends. Very sorry indeed. As far as book suggestions go, depends on what you like to read. I like nature stuff myself, and have a load of suggestions in that category (I loved Miss Wagner, she was an amazing teacher who really sparked my interest in the natural world, but evolution is not a debatable theory goddammit!) As far as the political stuff goes, I just read a book on the Iraq war called "Fiasco" - which sounds more than partisan, but I thought it was fair and direct. Against All Enemies, is a classic of our time.
I look forward to seeing you in New York!
Shawn,
Awe, please don't feel sad for me. I'm very happy, healthy and free! I will admit that I harbor some bitterness related to my fundamentalist christian upbringing, but I also cherish the community that came with it, namely nice people like Paige, my friends and family.
I think Paige's email struck a cord for me because in the experience of my upbringing, republican politics was so closely enmeshed with the christian religion. A lot of republican policies (ie right to life, anti-stem cell research, Zionist support, environmental carelessness, anti-gay, etc.) are a direct result of the religious right's lobbying. After growing up a bit, and getting some distance from that culture, I realized that much of it is misguided, misinformed and harmful to all of us. I'm not anti-god, and I think that the world could do with a bit more spirituality, but fundamentalist religion tends to be very "us against them" and contributes to much of the conflict we see in the world today. I think the reason it does so is that encourages fear and xenophobic tendencies. I was taught as a child to fear god, fear worldly desires, to fear the influence of non-christians, and on and on.
As an example, I lived not more than 5 blocks from the world trade center on 9/11/01. I was outside when the first plane hit and experienced the whole sad business first hand... I saw people jumping, heard families crying for their burning loved ones, and I even had to run from the cloud of debris when the first tower fell. I was left homeless for a couple weeks following, and stayed in the city sleeping on friends couches. Being in New York City during the weeks following was a surreal and wonderful experience. People of all cultures, religions, races (of which there are many in NY) came together in love and support. There was too much help... too many people wanting to donate blood, join the red cross, invite those of us left homeless to their homes... it was beautiful and wonderful to see. There was not one call to war. I did not hear one person say that they wanted to "get" the people who had done this to us. In fact, most people wanted to understand why someone would want to do this, understand why we were hated and to fix it.
However, the powers that be (ie Bush and Cheney) chose to use the whole thing to generate fear and to rally support for a misguided war. The call to war came from the so-called "red states." States that are much more "christian," homogeneous, and conservative. I think that the people in those states were more susceptible to fear exactly because they are more religiously fundamentalist and have been taught their whole lives the same things that Paige and I were taught. Namely that Muslims are bad, christians are right and the Unites States has a responsibility to fight "evil" in the world because we are a Christan nation. That this ideology led to an awful, pointless war in Iraq is a real tragedy, far more so than what happened in downtown new york because of a few crazy muslim fundamentalists.
Now, I no longer consider myself a christain, but there are a lot of things that Jesus taught that I believe are right and true, especially to love your neighbor as yourself. Fundamentalist christianity, right-wing republicans and the like do not seem to appreciate that golden rule.
I need to go, but I would love to continue this conversation. I am on a quest to free all of us former fundamentalist christians from the fear that has been ingrained into us from a young age. I'd particularly like to hear how you plan to stick on god's side when making your voting decision, and how you know where to find that side.
Thanks for your comments and concern,
-Nicole
....and thus my quest begins, and it is good.
It stirred the memories of my christian fundamentalist republican upbringing into a whirl of mixed emotions and I responded...
.. Oh no! Did I really just get a link to "secure john mccain"? Amazing. truly. I try not to vote, i think it's generally a waste of time, my favorite metaphor for the act being "it's like alphabetizing your garbage," but if I did I would surely not be for a man who has been in congress for decades representing a party that has led to the sorry state of affairs we are in now. Please consider for a moment that we were utterly brainwashed at Christian High to be obedient, god-Fearing (emphasis on Fearing), misinformed imbeciles. It wasn't intentional. Our teachers, parents, pastors most likely had the best of intentions, but they were just working with what they had, which wasn't much. However we have no excuse. We have a wealth of information right here on in front us on this glowing screen and a million books on a million subjects found on Amazon. I hate to think that any one of us still remains insulated to truth or shuns the pursuit of it. this isn't a political rant. if you want to vote for john mccain because you think his economics are more sound, or because you think his foreign policies will lead to peace and love, or because he has a stellar energy plan, god bless you. but if you're voting for him because he seems more christian or has a VP who shuns abortion, please wake up. for the sake of your children, wake up. for the sake of all people in this world, wake up. for the sake of nature, wake up. for our future, wake up. Send me a line if you want a few book suggestions. Hope you are all well. -Nic Murphy
and Paige responded....
Wow, Nic. Thanks for sending that out to all of my friends. Many of whom you do not even know. (To those of you who did not graduate from Christian High and missed out on all the brainwashing I do apologize for this mishap). I know you sent that in love and conviction and I definitely received it that way. However, I feel like mentioning that I think it was slightly uncalled for. It is my address book you know. Not yours. I would love to hear your opinions because I know and care about you, but people who do not even know you may not care at all. I suppose it is my fault for not hiding the group in a "category". I am aware that you are not a supporter of McCain, but it is just a link to register to vote where your opinion can be reflected in the choice you make in November. I would love for every American to turn out and vote so that the opinion of the majority can "win".
-Paige
p.s. I would love a book suggestion. Lay them on me. And more importantly... I hope you are doing really well! Now, I really am going to have to take you up on that invite to New York. The depths of Nicole Murphy are looking quite interesting.....and my response to that followed by the rest so far....
Sorry about that Paige,
I briefly scrolled through the addresses, saw a couple I recognized and assumed it was the CHS mailing group. I did not mean to email your friends. Very sorry indeed. As far as book suggestions go, depends on what you like to read. I like nature stuff myself, and have a load of suggestions in that category (I loved Miss Wagner, she was an amazing teacher who really sparked my interest in the natural world, but evolution is not a debatable theory goddammit!) As far as the political stuff goes, I just read a book on the Iraq war called "Fiasco" - which sounds more than partisan, but I thought it was fair and direct. Against All Enemies, is a classic of our time.
I look forward to seeing you in New York!
Nic,
Wow...I feel really sad for you. You seem to harbor a lot of bitterness which can never be healthy.
Our country was founded by Christian, God fearing men and it's only been through the decades of people trying to force God out of our country, that our country has become so jacked up.
I don't know about everyone else, but if I didn't care about any of the candidates very much, I think I would have to stick on Gods side when making my voting decision.
- Shawn
Shawn,
Awe, please don't feel sad for me. I'm very happy, healthy and free! I will admit that I harbor some bitterness related to my fundamentalist christian upbringing, but I also cherish the community that came with it, namely nice people like Paige, my friends and family.
I think Paige's email struck a cord for me because in the experience of my upbringing, republican politics was so closely enmeshed with the christian religion. A lot of republican policies (ie right to life, anti-stem cell research, Zionist support, environmental carelessness, anti-gay, etc.) are a direct result of the religious right's lobbying. After growing up a bit, and getting some distance from that culture, I realized that much of it is misguided, misinformed and harmful to all of us. I'm not anti-god, and I think that the world could do with a bit more spirituality, but fundamentalist religion tends to be very "us against them" and contributes to much of the conflict we see in the world today. I think the reason it does so is that encourages fear and xenophobic tendencies. I was taught as a child to fear god, fear worldly desires, to fear the influence of non-christians, and on and on.
As an example, I lived not more than 5 blocks from the world trade center on 9/11/01. I was outside when the first plane hit and experienced the whole sad business first hand... I saw people jumping, heard families crying for their burning loved ones, and I even had to run from the cloud of debris when the first tower fell. I was left homeless for a couple weeks following, and stayed in the city sleeping on friends couches. Being in New York City during the weeks following was a surreal and wonderful experience. People of all cultures, religions, races (of which there are many in NY) came together in love and support. There was too much help... too many people wanting to donate blood, join the red cross, invite those of us left homeless to their homes... it was beautiful and wonderful to see. There was not one call to war. I did not hear one person say that they wanted to "get" the people who had done this to us. In fact, most people wanted to understand why someone would want to do this, understand why we were hated and to fix it.
However, the powers that be (ie Bush and Cheney) chose to use the whole thing to generate fear and to rally support for a misguided war. The call to war came from the so-called "red states." States that are much more "christian," homogeneous, and conservative. I think that the people in those states were more susceptible to fear exactly because they are more religiously fundamentalist and have been taught their whole lives the same things that Paige and I were taught. Namely that Muslims are bad, christians are right and the Unites States has a responsibility to fight "evil" in the world because we are a Christan nation. That this ideology led to an awful, pointless war in Iraq is a real tragedy, far more so than what happened in downtown new york because of a few crazy muslim fundamentalists.
Now, I no longer consider myself a christain, but there are a lot of things that Jesus taught that I believe are right and true, especially to love your neighbor as yourself. Fundamentalist christianity, right-wing republicans and the like do not seem to appreciate that golden rule.
I need to go, but I would love to continue this conversation. I am on a quest to free all of us former fundamentalist christians from the fear that has been ingrained into us from a young age. I'd particularly like to hear how you plan to stick on god's side when making your voting decision, and how you know where to find that side.
Thanks for your comments and concern,
-Nicole
....and thus my quest begins, and it is good.
1 comment:
Hahahahaha! I love you! And I am so glad to no longer be caught up with that (often times) ugly, self-serving, manipulative, fear focused group of people. We are kindred spirits.
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